Government of Portugal

Policy topics Government of Portugal is active on

What Government of Portugal has said (80)

• 2026-07-14 “Thank you very much. Thomas, I will speak in Portuguese. So I'll give you a few seconds to Primero. Of all, I would like to thank, the Cyprus presidency for the excellent results over the past 6 months, dear Marilena. I will I would also like to congratulate the Irish president presidency for its 8th presidency. You can count on us. We'll be we'll have a a constructive approach. I would like to, talk about the 3 pillars of the Irish, priorities. Competitiveness. This is a this is a central priority based on regulatory simplification on deepening the internal market and the green and digital transitions and crucially on a trade agenda that is open but safe. And by simplification, we also mean simplicity by design from the moment the policies are designed. We also fully support the defense of the fundamental values of the EU. We are committed to supporting multilateralism, the rule of law, and the international order based on rules. We also, fully support the European path of the of Ukraine, and the enlargement of the EU. And then we also support the party given to safety in all its facets and a 360, degree approach, accompanying all member states, candidate member states, all our borders. And finally, we think that we need an ambitious MFF that is able to, fund our common agenda and address the challenges that we have ahead of us. The foundational policies that have already, that are enshrined in the treaty are essential for us to reach these, goals together with competitiveness policies? Thank you.”
  Size of EU budget
• 2026-07-13 “13:42 - 11:16:48): Thank you, chair, commissioner, colleagues. 1st of all, a few words for Martin. We wish him every success. You can count on us in order to achieve the objectives that we share for a strong, resilient, competitive agriculture that promotes food security and territorial cohesion. I would also like to thank the commission for presenting this strategy for the, pro and the protein plan. And I would also like to recognize the acknowledge the work that commissioner Hansen is doing during his mandate as well. And, regarding the objectives to ensure food security and, the union's strategic autonomy and the challenges that the sector is experiencing. Von economic vulnerability, environmental pressure, this, reduced generational renewal, And this also undermines, animal welfare and the competitiveness of our sectors, and it also undermines food security. And on this point, dear colleagues and commissioner, we all need to make an effort so that, the European fund for competitiveness and the program for our objectives has the sufficient, funds in order to, finance, vaccinations and to fight diseases. And all of these resources are necessary so that we have a Europe that is competitive and that we can ensure food security. And it's unacceptable that in some sectors, there are some member states that are doing or producing all the vaccines to, fight diseases, and, others don't. And this undermines competitiveness. When we talk of animal welfare, we're talking of public health, and it's essential that we all fight to promote competitiveness and that we have the resources that are necessary to reach our objectives. Portugal values the acknowledgment and recognition of this strategy, but we also would like to underline that extensive livestock farming helps us to reduce environmental, issues and to increase production. I would also like to add what the commission referred to in the, CAP tools in, that help us reduce risks and ensure animal welfare. And, I would also like to refer to commissioner Hansen's word on the European fund for competitiveness. Thank you.”
  Animal diseases prevention and management in the EU
• 2026-06-29 “Portugal congratulates the the commission on this file. And it is a complex file that has been concluded after a decade. We would like to congratulate the institutions and the member States, as well as all the institutions for the cooperation. Portugal, throughout the process, has taken a posture that was constructive and has sought a balanced solution. This. This is a conclusion for a more mobile union. It also promotes the exchange of of information that is more efficient interoperability of national systems. Thank you very much.”
  EU transport infrastructure integration
• 2026-06-29 “Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, Portugal has the National Strategy for Combating Poverty 2021 2030. That is based on an integrated, multisectoral and life cycle approach which links public intervention at national, regional and local levels. The ongoing measures include extending a free creches and providing more preschool education, as well as programs that promote the qualification, active inclusion and integration of those who are furthest away from the labour market. As to ageing, community based responses have been ramped up to allow people to remain in their communities and delay their entry into care. Without this, depending on their financial abilities. As to the second question, Portugal is focused on the simplification of processes, digitalization and inter-service interoperability, as well as integrated care solutions with a view to reducing access barriers and giving social responses that are better aligned with the citizens. In this regard, I want to share that we approved last week a diploma for the creation of the single social benefit that pools 13 social benefits into one, and which will certainly make access to benefits easier for those that need it most. On the European Union level, it will be important to further promote social policy coordination, mutual learning and the mobilization of adequate funding with a view to ensuring high quality, accessible and inclusive social services. Portugal considers that only by means of integrated, preventive and human centred policies, will it be possible to drive progress towards the European target for poverty reduction by 2030 and strengthen a more social, inclusive and cohesive Europe? Thank you very much.”
  Child poverty policy · EU expenditure on social policy
• 2026-06-29 “Dear president, dear colleagues, Portugal considers that housing security for students, young people and middle income families is a social and economic priority that requires an integrated response, combining immediate support measures with structural measures. In this context, Portugal has been developing and strengthening instruments to support rentals such as the programme Portas 65, youth, Porta 65 Plus and Programa de Rendimento. These measures aim to mitigate the share of housing costs in households disposable income. As regards young people, Portugal has also introduced measures to support the purchase of the first home through tax exemptions and public guarantees. These measures are important but must be accompanied by resolute and determined action on housing supply to ensure long term, sustainable and accessible solutions. This is why Portugal has promoted a simplification of urban planning procedures, the mobilisation of land and public heritage, and the creation of conditions of stability and predictability for private investments. Portugal considers that the scale of this challenge requires the coordinated mobilization of all available instruments, involving different levels of governance and linking public and private resources. On the one hand, increased public investment continues, ensuring funding so that municipalities can build more public and accessible housing, responding to the concrete needs of territories, and the program of public private partnerships for affordable housing is under preparation, based on the use of real estate and state owned lands. In short, ensuring housing security for all means increasing supply, enhancing public investment, mobilising private investment and ensuring legislative stability and predictability for all actors. Many thanks.”
  EU policy on urban development
• 2026-06-29 “Microphone. Microphone, please. Dear president, dear Commissioner, dear colleagues, Portugal considers the upcoming just labour mobility packages is in fact an important opportunity to further integrate European labour markets, while ensuring that labour mobility is based on fair, transparent and effectively protected conditions. With regard to the first question, Portugal believes that the cooperation exchange of information between member states should be significantly strengthened, taking advantage of more interoperable, secure and result oriented digital systems. A faster and more reliable flow of information on employment, social protection and employment status is essential to support mobility, ensure rights and prevent irregularities. Cooperation between public employment services should also be deepened, enhancing the role of Iris in supporting the placement of workers, personalised counselling and the dissemination of job opportunities across borders. This cooperation should be accompanied by appropriate activation measures to better support unemployed people seeking to integrate into other member states. At the same time, it is essential to strengthen the mechanisms for monitoring and preventing abuse through closer cooperation between the competent national authorities, better use of available data, and an active role for the European Labour Authority, in particular in supporting the consistent application of the rules on the ground. As to the second question, we take the opportunity to welcome the approval of the revision of the regulation eight A three and in fact, if we think, looking ahead, we believe that if efforts should continue to focus on administrative simplification, Digitalization of procedures and interoperability between national systems. Thank you very much.”
  EU regulation of cross-border and posted workers
• 2026-06-26 “22:43 - 11:24:46): Thank you very much, Michael colleagues. Firstly, I'd like to thank the Cyprus presidency for the competent, constructive work done on this file and also for their ongoing efforts to bring together the member state positions throughout the negotiations. Thank you. Portugal thinks that this proposal reflects a serious balance compromise process, preserving aspects which are essential for our national interest, notably bolstering the role of member states in network planning, recognizing national and regional specificities, making it possible to reflect structural, characteristics and necessities of national grids, and looking at regional development related aspects as well. Now from the outset, we have had a constructive approach, and we think that the text is trying to strike the right balance between ambitions, so speeding up the energy transition, and providing the necessary flexibility to cover the various, realities in the different member states. Now some national priorities have not been fully taken on board, such as the 25% immediately for congestion income rather than the phasing in of it. And, certain other aspects as well, we think that the compromise which has been reached is balanced and solid. Therefore, Portugal supports the current text and the general approach proposed by the presidency, and we wanted to stress the importance of maintaining the balance which has been reached and avoiding reducing our ambition at all. We trust that this proposal will contribute to speeding up development of energy infrastructure, which the EU needs, and it will be an important contribution towards ensuring a true energy union, bolstering resilience, integration of the energy market, and energy security as well. Now lastly, on the interconnectors and energy highways. We do support Spain's statements on that. Thank you.”
  EU energy infrastructure integration
• 2026-06-25 “Thank you. Chair. Commissioner. Colleagues, Portugal would like to thank Spain for presenting at this point. At this council. They have mentioned a position shared by various member states, including Portugal. Now, at the time when the EU is facing increasing challenges related to biodiversity loss, climate change, we're meeting today to talk about how to advance nature and water policies. It's crucial that the future EU budget maintain and draw on instruments which are proven to be effective, such as the Life programme. Ambition alone is not enough. We need dedicated resources and technical capacity and strong stakeholder mobilization. And that is where life stands out and has proved to be effective throughout the more than 30 years it's existed. Life has established itself as a unique EU instrument, which can really transform environmental, climate and more recently, energy transition objectives into real results on the ground. And this contribution goes far beyond funding projects, promoting innovation, learning cooperation and demonstrating copyable solutions which are necessary if we want to draw on EU policies. Portugal recognises that the Commission proposals are important if we want to integrate our environmental and climate objectives into the future MFF. In this context, we think it's key that we keep a strong framework which is clearly identifiable for climate and environmental objectives and actions. In the future, MFF, the MFF will prioritise strategic technologies and projects within the industrial and market related impact, and we need to ensure that we don't lose out on the great things which life has achieved. So we think the approach in the new MFF shouldn't replace life is not contradictory. Rather, it should be building on progress we've seen through life for environmental, climate and energy transition related policies. Any agreement for the future MFF needs to ensure the visibility, efficacy and the specific objectives of life are maintained and are strengthened. There's a risk of calls being launched within an overarching competitiveness framework, not maintaining the identity of life activities or the involvement of its or their traditional beneficiaries. Thank you.”
  Nature protection and restoration in the EU
• 2026-06-25 “Um thank you chair. Colleagues, Portugal would like to thank France for presenting this item, and we wanted to say that we agree it is necessary to coordinate at EU member state level to prevent the introduction, establishment and spread of invasive alien species. We agree with the proposals for action proposed by France, and we would stress the fact that we need to step up the preventive aspects of the regulations already in force. We need more consistent introduction of the principle of precaution. Thank you.”
  Nature protection and restoration in the EU
• 2026-06-25 “In this context, let me highlight that at the beginning of this month, we presented our National Plan for Nature Restoration, which is a structuring instrument to accelerate the recovery of degraded ecosystems, to strengthen the resilience of the territory, and to mobilize public and private funding in an articulated, joined up way. With this plan, we plan to invest by 2030 an average of €500 million per year in nature restoration in a proposal that includes more than 400 measures. We firmly believe that the transition to a positive economy for nature requires a coherent, predictable and measurable public policy framework is crucial to ensure the cross-cutting integration of biodiversity into agricultural energy, climate and spatial planning policies. And it's also crucial that we maintain investment efforts in a stable and diversified manner, strengthening public instruments and mobilising private investments in alignment with European and international frameworks. Let me say that the success of our policies will largely depend on involving our stakeholders. Only if we involve economic actors, local communities and those who are closest to the territories and regions, particularly in rural and inland or hinterland areas. Will we succeed? Portugal would like to reaffirm its commitment to a just, effective transition towards a positive economy, positive for nature, strengthening at the same time competitiveness, resilience and territorial cohesion. Thank you very much.”
  Nature protection and restoration in the EU
• 2026-06-25 “Good morning everyone. President. Commissioner. Colleagues, I'd like to start by thanking the presidency for all of the work they've put in over the last six months to advance this negotiation, as well as for the progress report that they presented moments ago. The transport sector, and in particular, road transport, is one of the main sectors emitting greenhouse gases at the EU level. It's also one of the sectors where the adoption of decarbonisation measures is faced, is dependent on individual decisions by citizens, making it difficult to achieve significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, we argue in favour of a swift, efficient and credible transformation of the sector in order to make progress towards cleaner forms of mobility that are accessible to all and help us to achieve the objectives laid down in the effort sharing regulation. In this context, we're in favor of maintaining a clear, strong and predictable trajectory for the electrification of the European automotive sector. We need predictable regulatory framework, and we need to ensure that any flexibilities do not undermine investment that is already ongoing in decarbonisation in the sector. This trajectory should be aligned not only to our climate objectives, but also with the need to reduce the EU's external energy dependency, thus contributing to reducing our exposure to price shocks and future geopolitical crises. Eu technological leadership in this area can only be guaranteed if we maintain the coherence and And predictability of our legislative framework. Finally, I wish to convey to the incoming Irish presidency that we are. We look forward to working with you to find a consensual and reasonable solutions to overcome the somewhat divergent positions laid out in. Clearly identified and laid out in the report. Thank you.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• 2026-06-25 “Thank you very much, chair. Colleagues, Portugal would like to thank you for presenting this item. We think it's essential to combat ultra fast and urgent fashion by adopting a coordinated European approach that avoids fragmentation of the internal market, as we'd expressed at the December Council. Now, this debate is particularly relevant for Portugal, where the textile sector faces increasing pressures from these business models. Portugal would encourage the Commission to move forward with a European response based on clear rules for online platforms, modulation of financial benefits due by producers, and fair burden sharing along the value chain, ensuring the green transition of the European textile sector and a level playing field in terms of competition. We also believe that the digital product passport should function as an automated customs control tool at the borders of the EU to close and fill the surveillance, surveillance gaps in e-commerce, and shouldn't just be an information label for consumers. Thank you.”
  Product passport
• 2026-06-25 “Thank you. Chair. I'd like to start by congratulating the presidency on the schedule. In this exchange of views on the future of the reach regulation, allowing political visibility to be given to an instrument that we consider to be of the utmost importance for the protection of the environment and public health. At this stage, Portugal would like us to be already debating the revision of the regulation, and we therefore regret the Commission's decision not to proceed with this process. Despite the significant efforts made in this context by both the Commission and the Member States, NGOs and industry. Nevertheless, we understand that the high impact of the current geopolitical situation on the challenging task of revising reach cannot be ignored. We hope, however, that the review and revision process can proceed as soon as conditions allow, and we are fully available and committed to working with the Commission and Member States in this process to achieve the objectives set out in the Chemicals Strategy for sustainability. Although the opportunity for significant improvement envisaged is not yet possible, it is considered important to move forward as effectively as possible. We think that's the case using the available mechanisms, including comitology and other means as well. Therefore, and as a starting point for answering the questions asked by the presidency, Portugal would like to firstly suggest that the Commission, with an integrated effort between DG env and DG grow, would promote a structured, targeted dialogue with Member states to explore the possibilities for simplification and modernisation while ensuring a high level of protection of human health and the environment. In this context, there are some elements which we think could be amended through comitology of annexes 6 to 9 to adapt the information requirements in the light of developments. Annex two. With a view to harmonising and digitising safety data sheets, and also the provisions on reporting arrangements with a view to simplifying them. Thank you.”
  Chemicals regulation
• 2026-06-25 “Thank you. Chair. Commissioner. Colleagues, we'd like to thank our French colleagues for scheduling this item. The negotiation of the Future treaty to combat plastic pollution has an unquestionable political dimension. It's not a technical exercise. So the main decisions of the union in this negotiation must be guided politically. Portugal wants a treaty that covers the entire life cycle of plastics that gradually phases out the most problematic products that regulates hazardous chemicals and improves design. We want a treaty that encourages a more circular plastics economy, and that protects human health and the environment. Now, to achieve this, we need to negotiate firmly and using strategic common sense, our flexibility must be gradual and proportionate to that of our partners. Early concessions would reduce our influence, but we also shouldn't get stuck in unreasonable positions which others can't reach. If we're rigid without being pragmatic. That would distance us from consensus and from achieving an effective solution. Right now, we should not rush. We still don't know what the starting point will be or the president's approach for the negotiation. So our aim shouldn't be to preserve negotiating positions, shouldn't be to give in on almost everything to make a treaty viable, but rather it should be to build a treaty capable of resolving problems without jeopardising European competitiveness. Thank you.”
  EU policy towards plastics
• 2026-06-25 “Thank you very much. Chair. Commissioner. Colleagues. Portugal recognizes ecosystem services as a strategic infrastructure for European competitiveness and well-being. The Portuguese economy has a significant dependence on natural assets. Strategic sectors of our economy such as agriculture, forestry, tourism and fisheries clearly depend on soil quality, water, biodiversity and climate stability. These assets don't only support value chains, they also perform key regulatory functions, contributing to the reduction of risks associated with extreme events such as droughts, floods and fires. Avoiding high economic costs the degradation of these assets translates into concrete economic risks, loss of productivity, increased mitigation costs and the need for ecosystem restoration. By contrast, their valorization represents an opportunity for innovation and economic diversification, notably through the bioeconomy. Nature. Tourism. Nature based solutions and the valorization of certain certified products. And these approaches, when based on robust sustainability criteria, strengthen the competitiveness and attractiveness of our territories and regions and can really make a difference when they're leveraged. However, there's no denying that challenges still exist in integrating the value of nature into economic decisions. We therefore consider it essential to strengthen instruments that make this value more visible and operational. In this context, we highlight the role of payments for ecosystem services, the need to steer financial incentives towards sustainable practices, and the integration of biodiversity into spatial planning. The development of green and blue infrastructure and natural capital accounting is also a key step. Portugal is following with interest the development of market based instruments such as nature credits, stressing the importance of ensuring high standards of ecological integrity, additionality and transparency, ensuring the complementary character.”
  Nature protection and restoration in the EU · EU policy on infrastructure for preventing climate-related disasters (floods, droughts, extreme weather etc.)
• 2026-06-22 “Good morning, presidency colleagues. Portugal recognises the efforts made by the Cyprus Presidency to reach a balanced proposal on the Sector regulation to support fisheries and linked areas in the 2028 2034 period. We welcome the doubling of the specific amount to the ring fencing to support interventions under the CFP, as well as clarification of various interventions eligible under article 35 B of the regulation on the National and Regional Partnerships Fund. Increasing demands that are placed on Member States to comply with the principles and aims of the Common Fisheries Policy do require adequate, robust funding to implement the sectoral regulation. Therefore, we believe the document is a good starting point, but we still need to make further progress in terms of the consistency, links and compatibility between the P and R fund and the sectoral regulation. And here in particular, I'm thinking of interventions related to fisheries control and data collection. Given the huge obligations on member states whose inherent costs must be borne by the ring fenced amount for these interventions under the CFP. Likewise, we must ensure adequate funding for the renewal, modernisation and decarbonisation of the union's fleet, which includes improvements for safety, habitability and working conditions on board vessels with a view to making the profession more attractive and to foster generational renewal in the sector. Thank you very much.”
  Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
• 2026-06-22 “Thank you. Maria. First of all, I wish to thank the Commission very much for presenting this communication. And I welcome the data that has been presented. Indeed, they show a positive development in terms of fishery resources, particularly in the North east Atlantic. As a result, we therefore call upon the Commission when setting the fishing opportunities for 2027 to take into account these positive results in its proposals. **Portugal We call upon the Commission to safeguard the balance of three structural components of the CFP. Environmental, economic and social. We stress that the fishing opportunities for a given species should not be subject to high variations from year to year. Instead, they should be. They should provide stability and predictability for fishers. We therefore. Advocate that whenever possible, the rules of the Multiannual plans, which are useful and positive instruments of the current CFP be applied. Also, they should take into account the particularities of fisheries and their socio economic factors. Moreover, account should be taken of the threats to which the European fleets are exposed to as a result of rising fuel prices and unfair competition from third countries, because these jeopardise the viability of European fisheries. Finally, we wish to highlight that fishing is an economic activity and it has enormous social importance. This is crucial for the supply and food security of the EU, and therefore, the fishing opportunities for 2027 should permit the fleet to be competitive and food sovereignty to be allowed in the European Union. Thank you.”
  Environmental regulation of fisheries · Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
• 2026-06-22 “Thank you. Maria. Portugal supports Belgium's Belgium's proposal and in line with the WOAH criteria. Portugal is a level of incidence with a BSE is very low. Our vigilance are. Systems are operational and efficient. The. Intensive testing on a wild animals on a model based on risk are based on. Also, the identification of a risk of potential illnesses is important and that would help us fight against emerging illnesses that have a greater impact. The incidence of a high number of both of BSE and the usage of of of materials that are Important will be very important in order to for us to combat this disease. Thank you.”
  Animal diseases prevention and management in the EU
• 2026-06-22 “Thank you, Maria. And greetings to the commissioner. Portugal also welcomes the. Thanks the Cyprus presidency for the efforts in the. The agreement on plant reproductive material and in the progress on welfare of animals during transport. On the latter, we do still have some concerns, particularly the complexity of the requirements proposed for travel times. The limitation on this. The temperature requirements. The economic impact of calculation means. For animal space the application of the same rules of the EU. In third countries that might particularly. Compromise exports by sea when these continue by land in the destination country. And lastly, European financing for services and national databases to register transporters. Thank you.”
  EU requirements on animal welfare for farmers
• 2026-06-22 “Thank you. Chair. Portugal understands Latvia's concerns and recognizes the strategic importance of these agreements for the sustainability and competitiveness of the European fleet. It's important to avoid situations in which the potential inactivity of protocols, in combination with the exclusivity clause applicable to the EU fleet, results in the actual loss of access to resources by European operators, while fleets from third countries continue to operate in the region. Thank you.”
  Fisheries access for developing countries
• 2026-06-22 “Thank you very much, chair. And firstly, I'd like to thank the Commission for that presentation on this very relevant and current topic. In answer to the questions that have been raised, Portugal believes that the following areas should be prioritised in reviewing the CFP. One fleet renewal and modernization. This is essential to equip ships with greater safety, energy efficiency and decarbonisation, reducing operational costs and creating better conditions on board. This is a vital prerequisite to make the profession more attractive and to ensure the generation renewal that we want to see in fisheries. Number two. The fishing fleet is currently outdated and inadequate, as are the concepts that decide the measurement of European fleet capacity. Three measures for small scale fisheries must take account of specific characteristics and the multispecies nature of the various fisheries. We believe that we also need to make adaptations and changes to address some other current challenges, including one simplify and harmonize the regulatory framework and reduce the number of legislative acts. Two encourage digitalisation, avoiding cumbersome, time consuming procedures. Three consider the importance of the scientific Basis underlying the setting of fishing opportunities, and also take into account the socio economic factors inherent to each fishery for to keep the ecosystem based approach. However, we must review or get rid of the landing obligation model as it has proven ineffective. Five we also need to revise some of the applicable rules of the multiannual plans to enable enough flexibility to make sure that there is not too much year on year variation in fishing opportunities. And lastly, to adapt some of the rules of the control regulation, which don't contribute to conserving resources but actually penalise fishing activity. And this is the case, for for instance, of tolerance margins in weighing catches in mixed fisheries. Thank you very much.”
  Environmental regulation of fisheries
• 2026-06-22 “Chair. Commissioner, colleagues. We are very grateful to the German delegation for raising this matter, which Portugal also supports. Indeed, there is an urgent need to simplify legislative procedures to reduce the administrative burdens and red tape, which negatively affects companies in the sector as well as authorities. Furthermore, we need to avail ourselves of information systems that allow interoperability with existing systems in every member state. Thank you very much.”
  Overall simplification of regulation in the EU
• 2026-06-16 “Thank you very much. Marilena and I will speak in Portuguese. I would like to thank the presidency for the excellent work they've done and for presenting the negotiating box. It is a move in the right direction, especially because it respects the fundamental elements of the treaty, notably when it comes to Asian policy, a modernised one. And these are things which have to be taken into account if we want to achieve a end result which is balanced and fair. Now there are still some issues which will have to be taken into account. One of them, which is absolutely essential, is linked to the outermost regions. They are a very important geopolitical asset for the EU. In article 349 of the treaty, you have provisions there. There should be additional specific amounts for agriculture and cohesion. Now progress has been made in implementing work on the PP, but there are some aspects which we need to look at in further detail. We need to look at all the general implementing conditions, pre-financing co-financing rates and rules for cancellations. It's also important for Portugal that we have a hybrid approach, which ensures the coexistence of a non-associated financing model not associated to costs. That is. So you have to have objectives and you need to look at real costs as well. Now we think it's imperative that we ensure that we have a balance in the MFF between expenditure and income. New own resources are essential if we want to have an ambitious agreement which can meet the EU's challenges. We remain available to go into further detail in discussions on all options. When it comes to the rebates we are against them being discussed. The MFF was conceived by the Commission rightly to not take into account any rebates and they don't make sense if you have a modernised MFF. Now, only at the end of this negotiating exercise will we know what the real efforts will be, which each Member State will have to make in line with that? G and I, and only at that point will we know what share of own resources will have to be taken into account when you have the final result. Thank you.”
  Funding for OCTs and outermost regions
• 2026-06-16 “Thank you. Marielena. I will speak in Portuguese. So we welcome the results achieved by the Cyprus presidency, which enables us to move forward towards achieving. The general partial general approach is within the context of the global package. When it comes to the partnership plans, we think that progress has been made there, and we'd like to highlight a number of areas in which progress has been made, notably when it comes to flexibility of responses to crises. Provisions related to the C, A, P and the conditions for implementation in outermost regions. When it comes to the European Competitiveness Fund, the text has moved in a positive direction, ensuring that Excellency will be promoted in an inclusive way throughout the EU, avoiding excessive concentration of funding. And then, when it comes to the Global Europe programme, Portugal supports the presidency's commitment to have a partial general approach, improving the general balance of the instrument and ensuring an appropriate level of ambition. However, Portugal will present a statement in line with the fact that it does not agree when it comes to the reference to innovative solutions, and that is something we've maintained throughout the negotiations. That position. Thank you.”
  EU competences on foreign affairs
• “Thank you, Luis. Again, thank you for putting this on the agenda today. Congratulations for the commitment you've taken that you're going to work for conclusions by the end of your presidency. Now, [00:17:30] we've had two years since the vision was presented for the first time. We've had a lot of political debate in the Sierra, in Parliament and here, and therefore now it's a good time to take stock of what's happened and being implemented. The rural pact meeting last May in Sweden was important too, and the high level forum on Rural policy on the definition of policy under your presidency and commission at [00:18:00] the end of this month. That's another important moment to build on. We want a more sustainable agriculture where there's innovative, technology driven, competitive that can make for a long term vision for our rural areas. We've put forward two proposals for priorities with that in mind. We did that in writing to the President of the Commission as part of our wish list for the 2024 Commission proposal. As I said, based on [00:18:30] my government's views, we need better digital and technology connectivity to modernize and boost competitiveness in our rural areas and in agriculture generally, particularly the Digital Rural Act. We called for. And secondly was about a strategic plan to build resilience for our aquatic areas and water availability. We call it re water. You in our document, which we think should be part [00:19:00] of the agenda. This should be priorities in the live programme in Horizon and so on across the board. All member states can contribute together towards this vision. As the rural pact lays down, as the European plan lays out, the Cap has a number of instruments which allow us to contribute to this vision. But you have to use the opportunities and seize the ones which all our policies together offer across [00:19:30] the board during this period. There's a strategic plan, but there's the Cohesion Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Programmes. In Portugal, there's an Innovation 2030 for Agriculture programme which tries to take a holistic approach based on our European and international priorities. Thank you.”
  Digital and precision farming
• “Deputy president. Thank you very much indeed. Chair, we welcome the Commission's efforts and the Member States efforts and the efforts of the European Agency as well and other EU bodies in order to make progress when it comes to implementing the strategy. We believe that the measures set out in the strategy are the right ones. In order to meet the challenges we face and achieve our goals, which have been set out in the strategy. We want to protect our health and the environment. We need to protect industry as well and make sure that we have predictability. We need to implement and make the strategy as concrete as possible quickly. There are some things which have not yet fully been implemented. So therefore it is very important to review the reach regulation. That's the central thing which we need to get to grips with. We believe that our efforts generally need to be reduced. We need to set priorities and we need measures for more innovation. We need sustainable alternatives for the substances of particular concern. And we need to assess risks where there is extra danger. We also support the initiatives which try to make sure that compensation mechanisms are being created. We need single assessments as well. We need to support SMEs, and we need to assess risks for human health and risks to the environment. It's also important to make sure this strategy is fully implemented in conjunction with the regulation on Echa. It's important that there is no extra administrative burden, which would throw up extra costs, and which may mean that the various measures are not implemented equally. Then on the different measures. If the updates to the strategy are made, that would be a good thing. And let me say finally, that we will do everything that we can in order to make sure that this strategy is implemented successfully. Thank you very much indeed.”
  Chemicals regulation
• “Thank you very much. President and I too would like to welcome to this council Alois and Hendrik, and wish them every success for the work that's now starting. And thank you very much to the presidency for their document, as well as the Baltic States for their declaration. Now, on the vision. We actually have conclusions that were unanimously, unanimously adopted at the December conclusion of the council, which should be the basis of our negotiations, where we defend a two pillar approach and appropriate funding. I'd also like to stress that the Cap is a common policy that works and works well, although it can and should be improved, improved, and what has been successful should not be torn down. And as such, in the next MFF, it's absolutely vital that agriculture and agri food play a strategic role, and that Cap maintains its own identity based on two pillars with stable instruments adapted to the difference of the different territories and multiple realities. Farmers exist a single fund. Let's be clear, would be the end of the cap. It would mean renationalisation. As such, we strongly advocate for what was in the conclusions of the Council in December 2024, as well as commensurate funding so that at the minimum, we need to update the budget by 2%, which would already be a cut compared to the inflation we're experiencing. The cap does need to be modernised. It does need to be a part of an MFF, which will foster research and digitalisation. I'd also stress the issue of water, which is vital, and as such, it's vital that there be a water strategy where the MFA makes it possible to attract financing to this sector. Thank you.”
  Agricultural funding
• “We could use the European Commission's proposal within the MFF. The aim would be to have a guarantee and risk sharing instrument. This would not. This would mean that the European Investment Bank would be involved in the transfer of risks. This would mean also that the banks could use the national budgets in order to deal with the matter. The programming cycle of the next MFF will offer the opportunity to to have a debate concerning risk management in this structural and intelligent fashion. Now, at the moment, we have the authorizations that have that have not been implemented. What does this mean? This means that we need to focus once again on prevention. We need to strengthen investments in order to make the territories more resilient and minimize risks. Investments also need to be made in new technologies. We need plants that are more resistant to to drought, extreme rain and so on. The this European reinsurance system will provide farmers with a vital support and will also increase the European Union's food security resistance. The technical and financial systems for this system must be discussed very soon. Thank you very much.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you. Good morning. Well, just three short notes. Um, the level, the level playing field has to exist, uh, inside the European Union among, uh, 27, but also outside the EU with our main competitors. Second, we have to look at geographical position and countries, which is also the case of Portugal, but not alone, where, uh, some kinds of travel or some ways of travel are basically, um, the most important ones. Uh, and everyone wants to reach a country like Portugal and obviously as Greece or Malta or even others. Um, you basically came by train or in the case of goods, it came, it came by shipping. So geographical positions have to be considered. The third point is technology. All these changes are only possible if technology evolves, and if we find ways of using energy in a more sustainable manner. And this is particularly in the case of agriculture and forestry. So we support the review clause for 2035. Thank you.”
  EU transport infrastructure integration · 2035 ICE phase-out: strict zero-emission target vs. flexibility for carmakers
• “Would like to thank the European Commission for presenting the Generational Renewables Strategy. It is important to emphasize that such an ambitious action proposal is conditional on the outset from an insufficient budget proposal, such as the one we have for the next Multiannual Financial Framework. In the discussion on the Cap reform, it has been highlighted that uncertainty and changes in EU regulations hinder long term investments and reduce predictability in the sector, especially for young farmers. Furthermore, it will be essential to ensure the necessary support for access to digitalisation and the strengthening of irrigation infrastructure. Key elements in promoting the attractiveness and engagement of young people. Thank you.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you very much, president. Thank you for putting this on the agenda. Thank you, Luxembourg, for the proposal. That's very much in line with the importance we attach to the adaptation of European legislation, in particular this regulation. In the light of the objectives of administrative simplification, it's very important that we have impact assessments before we proceed to legislation of this nature. It would be very interesting to see how much administrative costs would increase through this legislation. In our case, we import soy. What will the costs be for these imports and what kind of increase are we likely to see as well on the price of meat. So what extra price will consumers have to pay? So we really do need impact assessments covering not just the administrative costs, but also the extra costs that consumers are going to have to pay for legislation, which quite frankly, is not always terribly useful. Thank you.”
  EU policy on sustainability criteria in public funding
• “We need instruments to mitigate risk, we should have a European guarantee for insurances and reinsurance. They should be able at the should be able to uh it should be possible at national level. We should also have um measures to mitigate these issues. We also we we also need um measures for animal disease related problems. We also need vaccines. We need vaccines to be um, available and affordable vaccines and medicines. Otherwise there will be a distorted market. And to reinforce competitive and resilience, we also need to change the regulatory framework. We should have an incentive based approach and we should promote a transition to a more sustainable agriculture. When it comes to your second question. Public support, particularly from the Cap, are vital for the viability of farms and agricultural territories, especially in fragile or outermost regions. Even the most competitive farms need support for the transition. Voluntary markets for carbon and ecosystem services are a possibility. There's a lot of work to be done in this area. We also feel that we need to have flexibility in, um, in the funding coming from Horizon Europe and also in um instruments financed by the EIB. Also, we need to simplify things. We need to use technology. Um, we need to use satellites. We need to use them in our controls. And we we still we're still not able to use drones in agriculture. This would be very important. Thank you very much.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Everyone. We overall agree and support the scope proposed by the Commission for Direct Supervision by ESMA. Nevertheless, we consider that a more targeted approach could be follow followed regarding the supervision of crypto asset service providers. For those entities, centralization of supervision on asthma should be based on combined criteria such as size of the provider and the cross-border nature of the crypto asset services, regardless of the type of provider. Regarding the concept of significance, we can generally support the criteria proposed by the Commission to determine whether a market infrastructure is significant. We also overall agree with the asthma governance model proposed by the Commission, which enhance effectiveness of action crucial to supervisory activities. The future supervisory architecture resulting from the market integration package should preferably leverage on the competence and experience within asthma and the national authorities. Therefore, supervision should be conducted through joint supervisory teams, particularly in the initial phase of implementation. We should also take this opportunity to have a discussion on the contribution of national authorities to asthma budget and explore avenues to a more equitable distribution of those contributions. Thank you very much.”
  EU supervisory architecture for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs)
• “Commissioner. Ministers. As is well known. The whole of society for many decades now has been dealing with a number of challenges which have been multiplying in terms of the breakdown of the family, [00:11:30] diversification of the population, and women being able to exercise their rights to work. As well as having access to public life. Over the past few decades, there have been many obstacles to women in public life in Portugal. Firstly, their access to the labour market and also um education. However, district to women's involvement in decision making bodies via their participation in public life still needs to be improved, although improvements have been made in the other areas. Having a balance between men and women on decision making bodies at political level. Is a logical consequence of our constitutional right [00:12:30] to equality. After the decade following the revolutions in 1974, when the dictatorship ended in Portugal, women's access to the parliament was very small indeed. Less than 7% of the MPs were women. Nowadays [00:13:00] it still remains quite low, but it has increased to 21% of the total. It was only in 2006 with the equality law that. We saw a significant increase from this 21% in 2005 to 32% by 2015. And [00:13:30] we brought a new legislation to foster this. And in 2019, in spite of a new draft piece of legislation to bring the minimum threshold, up to 40% of women on decision making political bodies, unfortunately, this threshold has never been achieved. These figures demonstrate that. Although progress has [00:14:00] been made compared to the past. An action has been taken to achieve equality. We still have a long way to go to achieve effective equality. Once again, I would like to flag up a point which we are proud of. I am a member of a new government which in 50 years of democracy is the most equal in terms of gender equality. There [00:14:30] are 24 women in total. Out of 59 members. That gives us a 40.6% participation rate. So finally, we've achieved this quota with the new government on the EU's draft. We believe that we need to continue working and doing even more and to do better to promote a gender balance. In [00:15:00] political, public and economic life. As we had for women on company boards. The EU needs to encourage the member states to approve a European act to promote equality between men and women in public, political and economic life as well.”
  Gender roles, equality and inclusion
• “I think that the call was unmistakable. We must anchor our competitiveness strategy in people skills, social dialogue and quality jobs. Quality employment must be a shared ambition, built on fair pay, safe and healthy working conditions, equal opportunities and strong social protection. We also emphasized the importance of the union of skills of fair and effective labor mobility and the urgent need to intensify the fight against poverty and social exclusion throughout the EU. Anti-poverty strategy and the strengthened European Child Guarantee. A central message from Porto is that implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights, through a revised and ambitious action plan, is essential to ensuring that no one is left behind as Europe advances its green digital and demographic transitions. Colleagues, this is not only a social agenda, it is Europe's economic strategy for a resilient, cohesive and competitive union. Portugal stands ready to work closely with all member states the European Parliament, the European Commission as well as social partners and civil society To ensure that the outcomes of the Porto Social Forum feed meaningfully into the forthcoming initiatives, from the Quality Jobs Roadmap to the Future Pillar Action Plan. Together, we can ensure that Europe's competitiveness truly serves the people. Thank you.”
  European Semester (social dimension)
• “Thank you very much, Madam Chair, commissioners and colleagues, looking at the debate that we had in Cyprus during the informal Ebsco meeting. Portugal welcomes the opportunity that we have of having a deeper debate on how to break into poverty cycle by using enabling services and activation services, which are centred in the people. First question. Portugal is strengthening an integrated approach which has social, labour, education and education policies. The Portuguese Strategy Against Fighting Poverty 2021 2030 is our main framework and includes more than 270 measures which focus on priorities such as reducing child poverty, integrating young adults and strengthening work and qualifications including vulnerable groups as well as territorial cohesion. Looking at specific measures, we are going to be increasing the number of daycare that will be having, uh, free enrollment, which already includes 120,000 children and bolstering the offer of pre school education by recognizing the important role of these policies when it comes to fighting poverty. We have also looked to develop tools which strengthen the link between social protection and activation vis a vis work, such as the national program of the social labour market and other specific programs. At the same time, we are looking at models which are more integrated and integrated, which allow people to access their rights and their services. One matter was. A model that is person centric, and this model promotes autonomy and fights against exclusion, and ensures that social services go hand in hand with the healthcare services, which were can in hand seven days a week.”
  Child poverty policy
• “Thank you, Chair. Portugal aligns itself with the non paper jointly presented with Finland, The Netherlands, Sweden, France and Poland, and would like to highlight the following priorities. The first one is that the European standardization system faces structural challenges that need to be addressed, notably the early involvement of the ESOs in the process, the establishment of realistic timelines and the consideration of transitional solutions pending the availability of harmonized standards. Second is that digitalization should constitute a generally overarching dimension of the European Product Act. We consider the entry of noncompliant products via e commerce from third countries to be a source of concern. In this context, it is important to strengthen the obligations of online platforms. I won't mention, but you know which ones I address, and to consider the introduction of mandatory accreditation requirements. We look forward to a commission proposal that is both ambitious and proportionate with particular attention to the impact on SMEs.”
  Liability for online marketplaces
• “Thank you. Chair Portugal supported this AOB because we consider that governance and strategic priorities are critical issues we need to solve. As I have already mentioned in my previous intervention, without clarity on strategic steering, priority setting and respective roles, delegations will not be able to move forward with confidence, regardless of the position that member states may have on governance. When it comes to the interlinkage between Horizon Europe and ECF. The definition of priorities and strategic planning within R&D is a fundamentally unresolved issue that necessarily needs to be debated and cannot remain hostage to a high level steering mechanism and the competitiveness coordination tool, whose process we are yet unaware of. Thank you.”
  Research priorities within the EU · EU-level coordination of research agendas
• “Thank you, chair. Portugal welcomes the overall objectives and supports strengthening ENISA's capabilities and improving European cybersecurity certification framework, particularly through more agile and efficient certification processes that avoid unnecessary bottlenecks. We also acknowledge the importance of a harmonized approach to ICT supply chain security, including risk assessments, ratification of critical ICT assets and high-risk suppliers, and development of effective mitigation measures across the union. At the same time, further work is still needed to ensure an appropriate balance between enhanced European coordination and the competencies of member states. In particular, ENISA's operational role should remain complementary and not overlap with the responsibilities of national competent authorities under the existing legal framework. National Cybersecurity Certification Authority should also have a stronger role in the development and maintenance of European certification schemes while avoiding disproportionate financial or administrative burdens for citizens and organizations. Finally, decisions related to cybersecurity risk assessments, high-risk suppliers, and ICT supply chain measures should continue to ensure a central role for member states. Portugal remains fully committed to working constructively towards more balanced compromise solutions on this package. Thank you.”
  Scope of EU cybersecurity obligations
• “Thank you very much, chair. Portugal welcomes the Commission's discussions on the recycling sector. We recognise its essential role in transitioning to a more circular economy. This is a relevant sector where small and medium enterprises play a very significant role, both in economic activity and in creating jobs linked to circularity. These businesses still, however, face real obstacles with high energy costs, volatility of prices of recycled materials, and limited demand for primary raw materials. There is fragility in the financing system and in the markets. In Portugal, we are preparing a review of the circular economy plan for 2030, and we are also launching our Earth plan and a plan for critical raw materials. As measures aimed towards ensuring the whole supply chain, the whole value chain is ensured. We are having industrial dialogue on circularity and the work on the European Circular law, circular economy law, and we are prepared to work with the Commission in a participatory approach, including businesses, particularly SMEs, to ensure that the European ambition for the circular economy becomes a true ambition. Thank you.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Thank you president. I would like to. Echo what my Spanish colleague has said. Luis, I welcome the European Oceans Pact. It's a very it's very important. Perhaps the commissioner could say a bit more about the billion euros for the pact. You know, we're talking about 50 projects, I think. Perhaps you could say a bit more about that. And in that billion euros, where will that money come from when it comes to European funding? I hope that you won't reduce the MFF in order to achieve this target. We are pioneers in this area, in the maritime space planning, in signing the Bebe and the treaty of the High Seas. We've got the biggest network of MPAs and we recently set up the protected area of Gorringe. Obviously, financing is very important and not all financing can come from M5. They can't fund everything. Thank you.”
  Decarbonisation of maritime transport
• “Thank [00:34:30] you very much, Luis. Thank you presidency for putting this important point on our agenda. It's essential for the Green Deal to work, for it to be implemented. It's important to guarantee food security as well. We broadly support this proposal. It will make farmers better aware of the state of their soil based on scientific data and will compensate those who use soil in a sustainable way. It will [00:35:00] improve yields and it will also raise the value of good soils based on political level. Decisions to have a more appropriate soil management system is a good thing and to affirm those measures to ensure that we remain sustainable in our production, both in the medium and long term. This is again good for farmers. The strategic plan for the Cap contains a number of implementing points already where soil is at the centre, and that's certainly the case [00:35:30] for Portugal when it comes to sustainable management. We want to improve soil quality. There are indicators that exist when it comes to carbon storage or sink it into the soil. The 50% of agriculture surface target fixed and other measures of the 30% soil level we have fixed are based also on support to permanent pasturing to direct and seeding [00:36:00] extensive animal husbandry husbandry. Et cetera. Et cetera are all welcome. But we are worried about extreme increases in public spending, red tape and so forth in the proposal. So we need to flesh out the details better. Otherwise we are actually going to shoot ourselves in the foot. [00:36:22] So three things I would suggest in particular would be as following the soil districts or soil, diverse types of soil, diverse climate in Portugal [00:36:30] as well would mean a huge number of districts being created. Huge extra red tape and a lot of. Things that are difficult to implement. Better targets for each district. Better definition with scientific data, enough data exhaustively raised data would all be. We just don't have that sort of input at the moment in Portugal. Secondly, pre-established criteria for soil [00:37:00] to be regarded as healthy. We're worried about that. I mean, if you miss one parameter, you can completely miss it. This is far too restrictive in our view. We're very concerned about that. We believe, again, that targets should be set on trends basis rather than fixed rates per district. For instance, the in situ every five years sampling. We need proper funding for such monitoring to be possible, and that has to be set up because [00:37:30] otherwise at the moment we just have this 20% sampling from DG comp through the programme. That's just not enough. Now in Portugal we're looking at our land mapping. Again, we think that this is a system that could be very useful in implementation of this text. We hope it will have a positive effect. And as a soil observatory being created as well in our country, which we think will cover, a lot of the points are likely to be put in this [00:38:00] directive. Thank you.”
  Soil protection policy
• “Mr. chair, dear Nicodemus, Commissioner, colleagues, let me start by thanking the presidency for its hard work for a stronger European Union. On priority setting, we must first recognize the central role of science and knowledge creation in the definition of the relationship between the Horizon Europe and European Competitiveness Fund. While the challenges facing Europe require strategic top down priorities in key areas that should be addressed through ECF policy windows, it is equally important to safeguard curiosity driven research and maintain strong instruments for bottom up R&D. This balance should be reflected in the governance model of ECF and horizon R&D are essential to the competitiveness of Europe security, resilience and citizens well-being. R&d must therefore be placed at the centre of the future. Ecf Europe will not be able to meet its increasingly complex challenges without stronger and more effective R&D policies. Second, co-creation and co-design must remain fundamental principles for any future coordination mechanisms. Member states should be engaged prior to the Comitology process, given their role in co-funding European partnerships and other actions. Their participation is also crucial for fostering greater alignment between national R&D strategies and the Next framework programme, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and coherence of both the European Union and national policies in Portugal, we are implementing a comprehensive and deep reform of our R&D system, engaging stakeholders from across the ecosystem to ensure a better alignment with the EU Framework Programme on widening Portugal reiterates the need for a consistent and fair phase out process for countries that have driven national reforms and investments, making significant efforts to accelerate convergence with within the European Union. We advocate for a transition pathway rather than a simplistic and abrupt exclusion. Access to all instruments with tailored criteria is an option. Dedicated measures for transition countries is another. In this sense, the regulation must remain flexible and establish a monitoring process on the convergence of widening countries. Finally, on. On bottom up, large scale collaborative research, we recognise the importance of strengthening Europe's scientific excellence and collaborative R&D. However, before introducing a new instrument, we need greater clarity on budgetary impact and accessibility for emerging centres of excellence. Thank you very much.”
  Research priorities within the EU
• “Thank you very much. Portugal would like to thank the presidency for the excellent work put into preparing these council conclusions on the European Environment Action Programme. The intensive legislative work carried out in the wake of the European green deal has made an important contribution to achieving the objectives of the eighth programme. Now the effective implementation of these instruments is what's going to be the main challenge for the coming years at this point in time. It's a point in time which is both of stock taking and preparation. It's important to strongly reaffirm that the green transition is not in conflict with eus growth and competitiveness, but is the only possible way forward. I'd also like to say that we need to give the due importance to the issue of water resilience. We welcome the clear call from the council to have an initiative from the commission in this area. Water and water resilience should be a priority in the next political cycle at European level. Thank you.”
  EU policy on water management
• “Thank you very much, chair. I should like to thank the presidency for putting this item on the agenda proposed by France. Its relevance in the context of where we stand. And the reciprocity we've been focusing on. Of course, we can't tell a farmer that a specific product is something which he's not allowed to use some pharmaceutical products for production, for example, then is something that we're importing. There are products we're importing which are using this same phyto pharmaceutical product. It's important that reciprocity doesn't mean protectionism. And I presume that we also all agree on that. So we need to have a dialogue. And the reciprocity might also mean that we may require. The prohibition of certain phyto pharmaceutical products. Since if we don't have alternative solutions to their use. Thank you.”
  Pesticides & trade
• “Thank you. Chair Portugal supported this AOB because we consider that governance and strategic priorities are critical issues we need to solve. As I have already mentioned in my previous intervention, without clarity on strategic steering, priority setting and respective roles, delegations will not be able to move forward with confidence, regardless of the position that member states may have on governance. When it comes to the interlinkage between Horizon Europe and ECF. The definition of priorities and strategic planning within R&D is a fundamentally unresolved issue that necessarily needs to be debated and cannot remain hostage to a high level steering mechanism and the competitiveness coordination tool, whose process we are yet unaware of. Thank you.”
  EU-level coordination of research agendas
• “Thank you. Chair. First of all, I'd like to thank you for your hard work to ensure that this matter. With a great majority is should be decided on here in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. Through the necessary preparatory bodies. This is the right place to discuss simplification and the Common Agricultural Policy, to allow a balance between moving quickly and rigor, and ensuring that any changes to the cap are well substantiated and properly discussed. So I'd like to reiterate once again what has already been said by my colleagues. This is the place for us to analyze and decide on this simplification. There's another important point, which is the, uh, which is necessary at the moment. This simplification must be applied to the 2026 simple application. This call has already been made to the Danish presidency, and I'm calling upon them to make sure that this is possible. So that here again, this is where this should be decided. And this should this would allow us to move quickly enough. The simplification is important, as is the fact that this initiative shouldn't be conditional upon the upcoming Cap post 2027. These are different matters and shouldn't be interlinked, and the two cannot be waiting for each other.”
  Agriculture (green)
• “Thank you. Chair. Share. Portugal believes that the latest European initiatives including the Competitive Compass, the Clean Industrial Deal and the already published sectoral Action Plans, are moving in a positive direction towards achieving the European objectives of decarbonisation and competitiveness. However, this action must be reinforced to respond to the immediate needs of traditional strong industries, while at the same time ensuring the EU's economic, social and territorial cohesion in the pursuit of industrial leadership. This reinforced action must be differentiated around three central axes. The first one immediate action for affordable energy reinforcing these industries in the global competitiveness. The second, a focus on green hydrogen with hydrogen production and distribution infrastructures, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. This action is essential for sectors where total decarbonisation Organization is not technically feasible in the short term at the. At the same time, we must complete the European Energy Union by continuing to expand electricity grids and modernize and increase interconnections. Third and last, creating incentives for investment in innovation and research and in infrastructure infrastructure, and promoting clear and certain fiscal and regulatory frameworks. The three sectors identified in the presidency note, as well as those from the energy intensive industries, should receive a differentiated, pragmatic and result oriented approach.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “Chair. Executive vice presidents, colleagues, Portugal supports the partial general approach on Agora EU and thanks the presidency for their work in building a balanced approach and compromise. We understand the rationale behind the simplification and increased flexibility that inspires this program, but we would like to underline that simplification mustn't turn into a loss of political visibility, identity, or financial predictability of culture within the new framework. For Portugal, Agora EU must preserve the legacy of Creative Europe, support cultural and linguistic diversity in Europe, strengthen the cross border circulation of works, and ensure that countries with smaller scale markets, outermost regions, small operators, and independent creators have real access to European instruments. Portugal supports, for this reason, the compromise that has been reached without prejudice to the Cyprus presidency and continues to support negotiations for the MFF, an adequate budget for the 3 strands of the program. Thank you.”
  EU and national cultural identities
• “Portugal would like to thank a lot of you for having, um, included this item expressing concerns and where we also see ourselves. The entry into force of the deforestation regulation adds more instability to the very difficult international situation we are experiencing, the added costs and the trade barriers on raw materials, which are very important for exports of countries. Developing countries can result in real tariffs imposed by the European Union, misunderstood internally and externally. So for such a reason, we like to call on that. The Commission reassess the impact, comparing the costs of applying the EU's regulation on deforestation with the expected results. Thank you.”
  Trade impact on forests
• “Thank [00:17:30] you to all colleagues who supported our proposal. Thank you, France and the Netherlands for raising a very important point and outcomes shared with us about the greater North Sea Basin. We welcome this initiative. We think it is a very, uh, encouraging thing for the rest of us to follow, to promote cooperation, close cooperation and having projects that we develop together. We'd also like to thank the Netherlands [00:18:00] for raising their AOB point. It's important that this be brought to the notice of the council. Forced labor on Chinese fishing vessels, in aquaculture and in processing. This is something very grave. Their products when they come into our market must fulfill the same requisites as we impose on our own producers when it comes to transparency, traceability and combating IUU in [00:18:30] all its forms. Every member state must play its part. Checks must be carried out appropriate level to minimise the entry into our markets of products that do not comply with the strict sustainability criteria we have, and which harm the interests of workers. Thank you.”
  Import of agri-food products in the EU
• “Thank you very much for the floor, Madam Chair. Setting an ambitious target for 2040, together with a sound legislative framework for after 2030 is going to be essential for the next legislative period and the revision of the European Union's Nationally determined Contribution. The European Union should continue to lead by example. We know how important this leadership is given the given the results obtained at Cop 29 when it comes to mitigation. Now, in spite of progress already made, more robust measures will need to take account of the situation in all sectors that are included in the legislative framework, which would guarantee regulatory predictability, all the while retaining industrial competitiveness. In this context, it's going to be very important to face and overcome the challenges as regards implementation of the fit for 55 package. These five years should, in our opinion, focus on the implementation of the regulatory framework that has been agreed upon reducing administrative burden, simplifying processes. These are key points without compromising the level of ambition for the commitments made in energy. Um. It's important to speed up licensing procedures for renewable energy projects, all the while retaining the spirit of the European internal market, with special attention being paid to energy and electricity interconnections, reinforcing the point that renewable energies should be an engine for this transition. Public and private investments are important here, though it's important to look at this through the various instruments available now. The success of the fit for 55 package and the post 2030 legislative framework will depend on active, cohesive participation of all interested parties, retaining the importance of the social dimension. Now, the fight against energy poverty is something we attach a great deal of importance to. We've set up a plan in order to minimise energy poverty when it comes to buildings as well as transport. A climate and energy transition which is successful does need to be to be underpinned by measures taken at European level, but it also needs to be a socially just transition, because only in this way can we have the necessary conditions in place for an effective and fair and just future of Europe. Thank you.”
  Energy (green transition)
• “32:29 – 15:33:30): As I already said in, when I spoke earlier, for us, taking into account the specific needs of outermost regions is crucial for this negotiation because they are part of the EU territory. A positive discrimination that currently exists for these regions in the context of the CAP and also in the context of the cohesion policy, should be kept, and this should be responsibility of the 27 member states. These are assets for the EU. They are extremely important in geopolitical terms, especially so in the current geopolitical context, and they should be seen as a as an opportunity for everyone, for for every member states and not just the responsibility of 3 member states. And we think that the provisions, in the treaties should therefore be, respected. Thank you.”
  Funding for OCTs and outermost regions
• “Thank you very much, Marie. I will speak in Portuguese. Portugal, since the start of the negotiations has had a constructive approach. And that's why now we regret the fact that the most recent version of the nego box does not cater for our legitimate concerns. We think actually it's moving in the wrong direction. We can't accept a situation where a provision not included in the treaties on the rebates without any conditions of use, is now being considered. For some member states, where the GNI per capita is more than the EU average, Reg. But for those member states where the GNI per capita average is lower than 90% of the average, what you see is that the provisions in the treaty are not being respected. And the same applies for the attribution of a specific allowance for outermost regions. That's another requirement which is fully based in the treaties. And as we've said on various occasions in the past. Outermost regions are an important strategic asset for the EU as a whole. Portugal has made a major effort to bring its deficit under control to ensure that the burden of public debt is falling, and we can't accept a situation where we are now one of the member states, which is hardest hit when it comes to distributing the envelopes linked to the NRP when it comes to adding one. We wanted to reiterate the fact that we need to ensure that we have a funding model for partnership plans, which also contains a dimension based on real costs, not just on results, to appropriately reflect the needs linked to the different public policy measures.”
  Funding for OCTs and outermost regions
• “Thank you very much. Chair. Commissioner. Colleagues, Portugal [00:23:30] welcomes the proposed regulation of measures to strengthen solidarity and capacity in the Union to detect, prepare for and respond to threats and incidents. We think that it is essential for the European Union to take concrete steps. And coordinated action for detection and protection against such cyber security situations, including [00:24:00] preparation of the bodies which provide essential services in the union. However, we also think that these approaches should seek for the greatest alignment possible with existing legislative acts in the context of cyber security. Despite the progress already made in the compromise proposals, we note, for example, that when it comes to the cybersecurity alert system in particular. There are certain safeguards [00:24:30] for equity amongst the Member states on questions of fund eligibility and access, which could still be improved, for example, to the Europe Digital Programme. Another aspect that's important is the creation of a cybersecurity reserve for response to incidents. We hope that the negotiations with the Parliament will be concluded as swiftly as possible, [00:25:00] and wish the very best of luck to the Belgian presidency. Thank you.”
  Governance of EU cyber crisis-response mechanisms (Cyber Solidarity Act)
• “And in the area of trade, we think it's imperative that we maintain our unity, that we speak with one voice as an economic bloc, and also that we maintain and strengthen the process through which we're trying to diversify the partners we're working with, notably through the agreements with Mercosur and Mexico. We think these are two crucial steps if we want to strengthen the EU's resilience and if we want to ensure more diversification in our trade policy. It will be important that we maintain a balance between having the EU markets open and also protecting the economic security of the EU. Resilience, we think, is possible partly by diversifying our partnerships and then when it comes to migration, something else we wanted to highlight. It's important that we have the pact on migration and asylum quickly implemented. We also think it's important that the new action plan for the Epsr is now going to be they presented. And when it comes to equality and the directive on equality, we would agree with those member states who said they'd like the commission to reconsider their decision to withdraw that text. Thank you.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Thank you very much, chairman. This is important that we don't have a negative impact on the, um, environment, or also in terms of, uh, the strain on our road infrastructure. And that's why we need to update the provisions of the directive on [00:17:00] maximum weights to promote the decarbonisation of road transport, particularly for goods, for freight, and that will contribute to the strategic objectives of the European Green Deal. I would also like to wish the Belgian presidency the very best in the continued negotiations on this directive. Thank you.”
  Road transport environmental policy
• “Thank you very much, chair. I would also like to welcome the Commissioner's initiative to hold a specific consultation on small scale fisheries, which is crucial for our competitiveness, but also for our economic and social cohesion. Of the many coastal communities, including the outermost regions, many of which depend on small scale fishing. It is therefore crucial, because of this specificity, that we have preferential treatment for them to ensure the continuity of small scale fishing in order to improve their resilience, their contribution to the fishing products that provide huge variety, quality and freshness and that usually are caught in a sustainable manner that is respectful of the environment. It attracts tourists, it increases, improves the economy, and it also ensures generational renewal at the same time. Thank you.”
  Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
• “Thank you very much, chair Maria. Commissioner. Colleagues, I would like to compliment the Bulgarian minister and welcome the, uh, Dutch minister. I the issues that we're facing are worsened by the start of the war in the Middle East. We all know that this has strongly impacted the cost of the union's aging fishing vessels. In this context, measures aimed at improving energy efficiency cannot be disassociated, Dissociated from the renewal and modernization of vessels. It's not enough to simplify, but we need to amend legislation and we need to act immediately. And therefore we advocate for the creation of exceptional and urgent measures consistent with the current reality, namely amending the regulation of the MFF in order to allow support for the replacement of hulls with other new shapes, lighter materials, less friction, and to install new and more efficient propulsion systems that will produce fewer emissions of polluting gases. We also need to amend the rules for fleet capacity in order to allow for modernization intended to improve working conditions on board, and that this may, if necessary, increase engine power to ensure the stability of the vessel. Only in this way will it be possible to guarantee, at the same time, the safety of the vessel and of the crew.”
  Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
• “Thank you. Chair. Commissioner, I would like to thank you for this initiative. This is an important campaign that will be launched tomorrow. This role played by the campaign will be vital for the promotion of European aquaculture. It will be important to strengthen food security in the EU. It is a very relevant initiative also because we need people to accept aquaculture better, we need to show people that they respect environmental standards, very high standards, also quality standards. However, people don't have this perception yet. The Portuguese government will be contributing to a successful outcome of this campaign because in Portugal we too want to support the sector, the associations, and we want to raise awareness for this production as well.”
  Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
• “Thank you very much, chair. I'd also like to start by thanking Finland for bringing this matter on the simplification of the MFF to the Council, which is also one of Portugal's goals. We stress that this fund should be useful for the sector and achieve the objectives it was created for, and as such, we need a paradigm shift to make it possible to support firstly, the renewal of the fleet which is vital to meet the energy transition goals, decarbonisation and improvement of working conditions, living and hygiene conditions on board and therefore to attract young people to fisheries and secondly to develop productive activities within the Union, both aquaculture and the processing industry, which are also vital to reduce external dependence on fisheries supplies to ensure food security and sovereignty, particularly in the current geopolitical context. Thank you.”
  Funding for fisheries and aquaculture
• “Thank you very much, chair. The upcoming EU work plan for culture should be selective and operational and fundamentally politically useful. We need to have specific priorities that can guide effective work between member states and yield visible results for the public and for cultural and creative sectors. Portugal sees 5 priorities. Firstly, the relationship between young people and culture. It's vital that we bring culture into the everyday lives of our new generations, strengthening cultural participation through education, reading, mobility, contemporary creation, and youth led initiatives. Secondly, working conditions for artists and culture professionals. Europe should continue moving forward in coordination when it comes to artist statutes, social protection, mobility, and fair pay, including in digital settings. Structural precarity in the sector cannot continue to be seen as inevitable. Thirdly, inclusive access to culture. We need to bring down physical, digital, economic, and communicational barriers, ensuring that cultural participation also reaches low density territories, outermost regions, people with a disability, and the most vulnerable. Libraries, museums, archives, theaters, and cultural centers should all be seen as democratic spaces that are close to the public. Fourthly, strategic investment in culture and innovative funding models. Europe should foster sustainable mechanisms for cultural investment, including mixed financing, responsible partnerships between public and private sectors, and instruments that strengthen cultural ecosystems without jeopardizing artistic independence or creating further territorial imbalances. Fifth, AI and its impact on culture in the cultural and creative sectors. The digital trans position means that we need to carry out coordinated thinking amongst, on, copyright pay, on cultural diversity, and transparency and use of works for AI training systems, we just heard about also. Technological innovation should go hand in hand with effective protection of human creativity. Portugal also believes it's vital to continue work that's already underway in areas such as cultural participation and democracy, pluralism, and defense of European values of individual, freedoms and creative freedoms as Germany has just mentioned, as well as the digital transformation, cultural statistics, the role of culture in unions foreign relations. We believe that cultural rights should be acknowledged as a cross cutting dimension of European policies and that culture can play a stronger role in territorial cohesion, but above all, in rural and low density territories. Last but not least, Portugal wishes to see an ambitious European working plan that can be enforced and is strategic close to the people and above all that can iterate culture as a real structural dimension for European democracy.”
  EU and national cultural identities
• “Dear colleagues, Commissioner, dear Minister Damiano, I will focus on your second and third questions. Governance. And I would have the strategic planning process, the interlinkages between Fp10, namely between policy windows in pillar two and the European Competitiveness Fund need to be clear cut, preserving the autonomy and the role of Horizon Europe in generating new knowledge, curiosity driven and disruptive innovation. A landmark and the competitiveness advantage of Europe and at the same time guaranteeing the investment journey. In this regard, a governance that respects the specificities of R&D and knowledge creation needs to be ensured. In addition, co-creation and co-design must remain at the core of any priority setting mechanisms to be implemented. Meaningful involvement of Member States at appropriate level is needed if one considers the possibility of Member States providing additional funding or securing co-funding for specific actions. And this brings me to the to my second point, Partnerships. Coordination involving member states, participation in the definition and selection of future of a future partnerships portfolio must be a non-negotiable, negotiable principle, and this will require, in many cases, national, regional and private sector co-funding to be mobilised. Partnerships should be should receive funding from the ECF in alignment with the thematics of policy windows.”
  EU-level coordination of research agendas
• “Thank you very much. Chair, Commissioner. Colleagues, we welcome the effort made by the Commission to implement the initiatives aimed at achieving the objectives of the vision and generational renewal, as well as the water strategy. And we would like to highlight the importance of the work carried out by the Commissioner. Portugal is particularly worried by the increase of prices and of fertilisers, but we need to ensure the sustainability of our farmers and this requires European solutions. It is absolutely essential to ensure a common European strategy. We therefore risk here not only distorting and fragmenting our internal market, but we also risk undermining the fundamental nature of the cap. And to this end, we also. Refer to the EU Court Court's recent sentence regarding the MFF. We see that the priorities that have been given further attention to are not focusing on the key pillars, and the funding is insufficient and hasn't been updated. And this particularly regards the funding of agriculture and the rural target, which was announced by the Commission. This also requires the implementation of the promised advanced payment of the amount reserved for the mid-term review €45 million and we must have legal certainties to reach the commitment that we agreed to. To ensure that the cap maintains its truly common size and ambition, we request the transfer of the remaining provisions relating to agriculture and rural development of the NRP regulation to the Cap and the CMO regulation. This transfer should allow for the creation of a solid and coherent framework for the cap. We also believe that it is essential to ensure the transition between financial frameworks to ensure the legal security, stability, and to do this, we need to ensure not only operational stability, but also operational programs and multilateral multiannual intervention for the wine and fruit and vegetable sector during the transition between financial frameworks and therefore, we support, together with Spain. The programs described earlier. We also support France's request regarding the suspension of the Cbam, and we urge the Commission to present the action plan for fertilisers as soon as possible in order to achieve this objective. Thank you.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Dear colleagues, Commissioner, dear Minister Damiano, I will focus on your second and third questions. Governance. And I would have the strategic planning process, the interlinkages between Fp10, namely between policy windows in pillar two and the European Competitiveness Fund need to be clear cut, preserving the autonomy and the role of Horizon Europe in generating new knowledge, curiosity driven and disruptive innovation. A landmark and the competitiveness advantage of Europe and at the same time guaranteeing the investment journey. In this regard, a governance that respects the specificities of R&D and knowledge creation needs to be ensured. In addition, co-creation and co-design must remain at the core of any priority setting mechanisms to be implemented. Meaningful involvement of Member States at appropriate level is needed if one considers the possibility of Member States providing additional funding or securing co-funding for specific actions. And this brings me to the to my second point, Partnerships. Coordination involving member states, participation in the definition and selection of future of a future partnerships portfolio must be a non-negotiable, negotiable principle, and this will require, in many cases, national, regional and private sector co-funding to be mobilised. Partnerships should be should receive funding from the ECF in alignment with the thematics of policy windows.”
  EU research funding
• “Thank you. Chair. Commissioner. Colleagues, uh, we understand the concerns of Ireland concerning the management of mackerel stocks in the North East Atlantic. It is important to have quotas. And they should. They cannot be unilaterally decided upon. Uh, this is a fundamentally against the principle of sustainable management of fisheries. We urge the Commissioner to reach an agreement that is, that is fully overarching for all for the fifth and the 6th of March. At the meeting, in order to defend the fisheries of mackerel in the Atlantic. Thank you.”
  Environmental regulation of fisheries
• “Thank you very much, chairman. Dear colleagues, Commissioner, first of all, I would like to thank the presidency and the Commission for giving us the opportunity to discuss this matter in the Council. And I would just like to express our unconditional support for what has just been said by Spain. This setting of tax and quotas. Well, on this topic, Portugal has expressed its views over the past few months. We have said it's very important to take into account the three pillars of the Common Fisheries Policy. We shouldn't just look at the environmental and economic side of things, but we also have to look at the social impact which these measures would have on countries such as Portugal. We need to take a balanced decision, and a balanced decision has to take into account these three components. Once again, I would like to say that we can support Spain taking into account the need for stability in fishing opportunities. We don't have solid scientific advice, as is the case for anchovies in zone nine, and therefore we should avoid these measures, which are extremely restrictive and which could call into question the operation of the fleets we're talking about. This is a very worrying situation because we're talking about fleets which catch small pelagic species which are already subject to a natural resource variability and which of course, are also being affected very much by climate change. And that's why we cannot accept this proposal for attack, for anchovies. We cannot accept the amounts, nor can we accept this separation for the southern component. We want a final decision to be taken after we get the scientific, after the scientific meeting is held by the end of this month, and then we'll have a more justified decision. We think so. We think that this is not a timely decision. As Spain said, it also affects Portugal. And I would just like to conclude by saying that we would be confronted by a situation of involuntary overfishing.”
  Environmental regulation of fisheries
• “54:44 – 15:57:30): Colleagues, artificial intelligence makes the transition to more agile and diverse work models inevitable. It requires flexible working arrangements, reinvents recruitment, and changes the way in which we evaluate productivity and results. At the same time, it strengthens the ethical imperative of effective human supervision, ensuring that workers' dignity is not trampled on or new models of discrimination emerge. It also imposes an unprecedented scale of digital literacy, requiring continuous effort in qualification, skilling, and upskilling. For Portugal, the objective is clear: putting technology at the service of employment and strengthening workers' rights. In this sense, the European Semester can play a more strategic role in reducing frictions in the labor market and improving the alignment between skills supply and demand. To do so, we need to strengthen monitoring through regular analyses of the impact of AI on digital and technological skills. Secondly, ensure that the Union's financial instruments support in a coherent and strategic way active employment policies, the technological modernization of public employment services, and structured cooperation with companies and social partners in order to anticipate mismatches and ensure timely and effective reskilling processes. Thirdly, encourage structural reforms in education, professional training, and lifelong learning systems, aligning them with the digital and green transitions internally, domestically. That is, we approved the national artificial intelligence agenda and are negotiating a labor review proposal that explicitly recognizes the growing impact of AI and algorithmic management on labor relations. This proposal introduces specific measures to protect workers, namely algorithmic transparency and data protection, whether in hiring or dismissal. With this legislative framework, we can boost investment and requalification in companies and reskilling in companies, increasing the number of SMEs that use AI tools, promote advanced training for public servants, enable innovation, and at the same time define competent authorities, coordination models, and clear regulatory frameworks ensuring ethical implementation of AI. Finally, it is essential that technological innovation is at the service not only of economic competitiveness but also social justice, fairness, and the effective safeguarding of workers' rights. Thank you.”
  Artificial Intelligence · European Semester (social dimension)
• “Thank you very much. I would like to congratulate the presidency for all their work On these two files. These two files together will contribute to supporting competitiveness, sustainability and the resilience of the agricultural sector and improve. I'd like to stress the negotiating position of farmers in the value chain. And this is a goal which we should be pursuing a number of regulations. As to the CMO regulation. Portugal supports the obligatory written contracts with appropriate derogations in order to guarantee greater predictability for farmers. As to the regulation on cross-border enforcement of unfair trading practices. We believe that this allow the competent authorities to have the necessary instruments to gather information, detect infringements and implement fines. We await the Commission's presentation of the assessment of the UTP directive. Thank you.”
  EU policy on farmer–buyer relations in the agri-food supply chain
• “Thank you. Maria Portugal thanks the presidency and the Commission for bringing this item to the agenda. The Mercosur agreement is very positive for the agri food sector and the European economy, and for strengthening the geostrategic position of the market, to reduce dependency and to strengthen our role in an increasingly competitive context. However, commercial openness requires a strengthening of border controls, making sure that these are efficient controls on imports as well as real guarantees for fair competition. I think that the solutions proposed by the commission are positive. With this €45 billion. However, solutions should ensure direct support of farmers through specific additional financing for agriculture. And here also the European Competitiveness Fund should contribute to our efforts. We would like to see these intentions put into specific regulatory proposals. Thank you.”
  Trade relations with Mercosur
• “Portugal considers that the framework programme requires a simpler, more efficient and result oriented approach, reducing the cluttering of instruments time to grant and further action to streamline pathways in order to transform excellent research into marketable solutions. Looking towards the future, the evaluation results confirm the centrality of Horizon Europe to our competitiveness, productivity and technological technological leadership. We welcome the evidence that the Framework programme indeed brings strong returns. Therefore, we believe that this evaluation confirms the need for a framework programme with a stronger and dedicated budget, especially considering that nearly 70% of high quality proposals go unfunded. Topics should be structured around European challenges rather than predefined technologies. More open and less prescriptive. Prescriptive topics can foster creativity, flexibility, inclusion, and better alignment with the evolving policy context. We should continue to invest across the full knowledge value chain, from fundamental and collaborative research to breakthrough innovation addressing the innovation gap, as well as strengthening the widening measures that has been very successful in contributing to close the innovation divide. Dynamic SMEs are crucial for generating innovation, high quality jobs and economic growth. While there are many SMEs participating in Horizon Europe, according to the mid-term evaluation, their number is not increasing. Smes participants are often partners in collaborative, collaborative projects. We should enhance this part of the program and introduce further measures to facilitate access to funding not only to SMEs, but also to startups and scale ups. For instance, a comprehensive financial incentive package could be considered to further stimulate SME investments. This should include grants, tax benefits and subsidies, as well as the creation of innovation vouchers or small grants to support collaboration between SMEs, large companies and research institutions in Portugal. Empirical evidence confirms the stronger impact of industry university collaboration on SMEs, namely on firm productivity and firm size growth. Concerning dual use and European Innovation Council. Due to geopolitical challenges we are facing, we agree with opening the R&D to dual use. Bearing in mind, however, that FPN should remain civilian at its core. Thank you very much.”
  EU research funding
• “Thank you very much. Luis. I wanted to start by thanking the commission for presenting the proposed review of the regulation. I [00:22:00] also wanted to. Say that we think it's fundamental that this review. Take account of all of the experience acquired by Member states when it comes to the transport of animals, as well as the latest technical and scientific knowledge in the domain. I also wanted to highlight the need to take account of each member state's geographic location and the specificities related thereto. [00:22:30] We are pleased with the presentation of new technological aspects, which will make it possible to simplify the procedures and controls, and will result in many of the existing procedures being improved when it comes to the transport of live animals. I thank you.”
  EU requirements on animal welfare for farmers
• “Thank you very much, chairman. I would like to start off by thanking the presidency for having put this very important matter on the agenda for the Council. Now, this has come amidst intense efforts to eradicate forced labour and to promote due diligence by companies when it comes to sustainability throughout the value chain. We want this regulation to apply in a consistent and harmonised way throughout the European Union, and we think the draft regulation has developed in a positive manner, and in general terms, it's in line with what we have wanted. Now we're talking about a strengthened coordinating role for the commission. This is essential when it comes to looking or monitoring forced labour products. Now, when it comes to the investigation procedures and risk based controls, taking into account proportionality, this is all extremely important. We feel that the Commission should be actively involved in coordinating the various phases of the investigation in order to ensure that we have a proper balance between the internal and external dimensions of the matter. At this phase in the discussions, we still do have some concerns. Cooperation between national authorities, as well as cooperation with counterparts in other member states, which authorities would be responsible for checking that the legal requirements have been met throughout the supply chain. We also need to look at the whole process for withdrawing products, which are made by forced labour, and we should ensure that we do not have a disproportionate burden on companies, especially SMEs. Thank you very much.”
  Due diligence in supply chains (environmental and human rights)
• “Thank you very much, president. We support the point presented by Czechia and the other colleagues. There is an urgent need to implement these measures by the Commission. Obviously, limiting ourselves to the substances that are allowed in the European Union. We can't continue reducing these Is substances without finding alternative products that need to be accessible and affordable. And I'd like to underscore this point. On the other hand, we accept the import of agricultural products from third countries that are not subject to these limitations. So nobody can explain this to a farmer who cannot use a certain protective plant product, but then they can purchase products coming from third countries that do use these picks. Therefore, the process of simplification must be extended to people and we the measures that provide for alternative solutions are insufficient.”
  Pesticides & trade
• “Thank you David. Just to support this proposal presented by Germany on country of origin labelling of foodstuffs. Where the country of origin is very clear. We think the labels need to be simple, they need to be clear, [00:04:00] and they have to meet the intention, the expectations and the concerns of consumers. We think that regulation should provide information and ensure that consumers can make conscious choices about what they buy, where the origin of their products, where they were produced, is clear to them, and [00:04:30] that would ensure that in the value chain, agriculture wouldn't be the loser. As is so often the case. Thank you.”
  Food labelling harmonisation at EU level
• “First of all, I'd like to say hello to the executive vice president from the Commission. Congratulations on your appointment. We'd like to thank the Hungarian presidency for the work that they have done to try to take on board the concerns of various member states to get a general approach. Council general approach. On the directive on traineeships, we do think this is an incredibly important issue. Some of the problems identified in various versions have not been resolved yet. We feel particularly relating to the, um, scope, the personal scope of this directive. So Portugal does have problems with this directive. How will this fit in with what we have nationally on traineeships? There is a problem there. That's why we're still not in favour of this general approach. We do feel, therefore, that this is a process that should be carried on to and by the next presidency. Thank you.”
  Youth employment & training
• “I would like to begin by expressing our gratitude to Slovenia for its excellent organization and warm welcome. We believe that a strong and autonomous cap remains the best instrument for addressing risks in agriculture. We advocate the creation of a European guarantee mechanism, functioning as a re-insurance instrument that strengthens national risk management systems, possibly through cooperation with the European Investment Bank and financial institutions. We reiterate our commitment to sustainable agricultural risk management, ensuring food and water security, equitable access to water for all communities, and sustainable water supplies for irrigation, contributing to the vitality of rural areas and the competitiveness of the sector. Thank you.”
  Agricultural funding
• “Thank you very much, Romina. First of all, we'd like to congratulate the Commission for this very bold proposal for the recast of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. It's very ambitious and will give a good protection to water bodies. It's in line with the European Green Deal. But there are some things that we're very concerned about. This proposal does not take into account the geographical diversity of Member states, particularly the characteristics of water bodies and other regional specificities. It should be more compatible with the Water Framework Directive, and it should be in line with the proportionality principle. The territory of the European Union is very diverse. You've got inland lakes with a low water renewal rate and coastal areas such as the Portuguese coast, with a very high water renewal rate. Plus land use is very different across the European Union. A good approach would be to define discharge criteria according to the type of discharge, i.e. population and industrial discharge and also the type of water body. So a combined approach, rather than focusing on population treatment and quality criteria based only on population, might not actually mean that you have good quality water in the water body. Plus it's disproportionate costs for not so much benefit. There might be negative environmental side effects, increased energy consumption, for example, chemical products or more sludge production as well. It's also against the principle of circular economy. You remove nutrients for water, then that water is reused in irrigation land irrigation and the nutrients that have been removed are replaced with synthetic fertilizers. Synthetic fertilizers. Also, the specific situation of outermost regions should be taken into account. Their specificity is enshrined in the treaties. They should be taken into account. The deadlines are very ambitious, and this isn't compatible with the Water Framework Directive, which will mean administrative, additional administrative burden and duplication of efforts on the extended producer responsibility scheme. It could be beneficial, but we do have some concerns about the fact that you only include the pharmaceutical and personal care products sector. Also this mechanism, this scheme will be implemented at the same time as quaternary treatment, which will mean that water treatment plants will have water treatment plants will have to have a high outlay of initial investment which might undermine their sustainability. Thank you, thank you.”
  Water pollution
• “The biodiversity protection measures shouldn't just be based on restrictions on fisheries. Then on your third document, communication [00:35:00] on the energy transition. We think that this is a cross-cutting priority for the whole of the European Union and without viable solutions and without the necessary financial resources, this transition will not be possible in the sector. We are sure that the Commission will clarify the financial resources available and make available additional resources. And we also need to have an informed discussion [00:35:30] about the fishing capacity of our fleets. And that goes hand in hand with a discussion on technological developments in the energy transition. Finally, on the CMO, we welcome the. Conclusions of the report. It highlights the role of producer organizations in the fisheries sector and in terms of food security and information to the consumers. Progress has been made in Portugal and this is now crucial when [00:36:00] it comes to implementing management measures and meeting objectives. When it comes to the marketing of fisheries and aquaculture products, we now have a resilient producer organisations and they are essential to the sector in the future. We need to increase our recognition of transnational organisations. Finally, we are facing huge challenges at global level. Fisheries [00:36:30] are essential in terms of providing jobs and ensuring that the food chain works properly. Of course, as usual, we are ready to cooperate actively with the Commission and the Presidency and look at the relevant actions. Thank you.”
  Funding for fisheries and aquaculture · Environmental regulation of fisheries
• “Commissioner. Ministers and dear colleagues. Portugal is committed to adopting this draft directive. It is an essential pillar [00:17:30] on which we can build an EU based on equality, and it adds to the legislative framework which combats discrimination that the EU has at its disposal. So I'm pleased with the work that has been done, the tireless efforts of the Belgian presidency on this file, and I would like to state my support for the latest version of the text. The right to non-discrimination is a fundamental right, which is sanctioned in the EU's treaties and the [00:18:00] EU's Fundamental Rights Charter, and this pillar needs to be fully integrated into our legislation, because all EU citizens should have the right to be full members of society and to benefit from equal opportunities. Moving forward with this anti-discrimination directive. Is important. If we want to combat all forms of discrimination in the European Union, it will contribute to. [00:18:30] The anti-discrimination strategy of the European Union. So this measure. Can be applied irrespective of religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. This needs to be applied so that there is no more discrimination of any kind. Thank you.”
  EU policy on integration and ethnic, racial and religious discrimination